Wildcats open camp Monday with much to be determined before Sept. 1 opener at Syracuse

The quest begins Monday with the opening of summer camp in Evanston. Northwestern hopes it ends with the obliteration of a stuffed monkey that symbolizes the program's futility in bowl games — nine straight losses.

He's 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 215 pounds. He was rated by Rivals.com as the nation's best receiver in his recruiting class. He's eligible this fall, thanks to an NCAA waiver. After firing passes to him back in spring, quarterback Kain Colter likened him to Calvin Johnson. And after catching only one pass since high school, Prater is highly motivated.

But here's the flip side: He has been dogged by injuries, including thumb and hamstring issues in 2010 spring ball at USC (he enrolled early out of Proviso West), a partially torn groin that led to a 2010 redshirt and a fractured left foot last season.

Plus he's learning a new offense. And the Wildcats already are loaded with receivers who have speed (Venric Mark and Tony Jones), size (Christian Jones, Cameron Dickerson) and good hands (Demetrius Fields, Mike Jensen, Rashad Lawrence.)

What Prater does bring, at the very least, is national attention and a size/skills combination the Wildcats have not had sinceD'Wayne Bates.

Is Kain Colter an every-down quarterback?

Colter was NU's leading rusher last season. And with Jeremy Ebert and Drake Dunsmore off to NFL training camps, his 43 catches and 466 receiving yards rank first among returning players.

But with Dan Persa having graduated, Colter wants to cross out the "slash" from his job description. And Fitzgerald said that if NU's Sept. 1 season opener at Syracuse were tomorrow, Colter would be the every-down guy. But that doesn't mean the strong-armed Trevor Siemian won't have a role.

"We reserve the right to get the best 11 guys on the field for every play," Fitzgerald said. "There will never be a dull moment. Will I tell (Syracuse coach) Doug Marrone right now what we're going to do? I will not."

Will anyone sack the quarterback?

The Wildcats registered 17 sacks last season. Only three bowl teams (Wake Forest, UCLA, New Mexico) were as kind to opposing quarterbacks. Vince Browne and Jack DiNardo combined for six of the 17, and they're gone.

Northwestern must get production from Tyler Scott, Quentin Williams, Brian Arnfelt and Deonte Gibson, a redshirt freshman who showed massive potential in the spring exhibition.

"He's really fast," Fitzgerald said, "and he played for a powerhouse in Ohio, (St. Edward). He has to learn a little technical stuff, but once he does, he will be a special player."

Will any freshmen see the field?

Joliet Catholic product Malin Jones has earned raves from those who have watched his summer workouts. He figures to compete with Treyvon Green and Mike Trumpy, who's back from ACL surgery, for the starting tailback spot.

Linebacker Ifeadi Odenigbo was a four-star recruit and one of the Midwest's top players, but he's raw (his academically minded Nigerian parents did not let him play football until his sophomore year) and needs to add bulk to his 220-pound frame.

He was assigned jersey No. 7, same as safety Hunter Bates. That could signal a redshirt year, given that players on the same side of the ball can't have the same digits.

Is there any hope for the secondary?

After getting torched last season for 8.5 yards per pass attempt — which ranked 112th of 120 FBS teams — the Wildcats lost three starters. Cynically you would say that might be a good thing, but not in this case: Brian Peters had five interceptions, Jordan Mabin was an excellent cover corner and Jeravin Matthews helped NU's rush defense.

Safety Ibraheim Campbell leads the group after a down-and-up freshman season, and the Wildcats will count on help from inexperienced players such as Nick VanHoose, Daniel Jones and C.J. Bryant.